Frugal Cooking Tips for Large Families
From Adviceopedia
If you are looking for frugal cooking tips for large families, author Joni Hilton can help. She shares many great tips on how you can save money and time in the kitchen, and at the grocery store.
Frugal Cooking Tips for Large Families Interview
Joni Hilton knows about saving time and money. She’s been a serious cook for almost 30 years, proving her skills by winning more than 60 national cook-offs and recipe contests. As a mother of four, she has experience with cooking for large families and loves to share her expertise with others through writing and publishing.
Joni is the author of over 15 books, including The Once-a-Week Cooking Plan (Random House). She has also published dozens of magazine articles. Joni understands what it is like to be busy, as she is the founder of Holy Cow cleaning products. With her busy schedule, Joni found that: “Cooking in batches for the whole week has saved me time, money, and sanity!” Below she shares some of her time and money saving tips.
Why do you love to cook?
Cooking is a creative outlet like painting or writing, and creating something delicious for those you love is very gratifying.
Can you tell us a little bit about your book and what inspired you to publish it?
It occurred to me that moms need more time with their kids, and less time housecleaning and cooking. One way to free them up is to make all the week's meals at one time. In fact, you can involve the whole family in this, and have more time together. It's also a great opportunity to teach cooking skills to your children. My book makes it super easy to do this. I even have shopping lists included, so you can save a fortune buying items you will use this week, then again. I also explain how to keep staples in the freezer to make cooking easier (seasoned ground meat, already cooked, for example). And, of course, the recipes are delicious and nutritious.
What frugal cooking tips for large families can you share with us?
Buy in bulk, and then divvy up the rice, pasta, etcetera into plastic storage containers. Go online to investigate purchasing clubs that your whole neighborhood can get in on. Watch for big sales, and stock up on canned goods when prices are lowest. Learn to cook from scratch; it always saves money over buying pre-cooked, pre-sliced, pre-made items.
Why do you feel cooking once a week will save both time and money?
You save a ton of time! No more nightly chopping, simmering, sautéing, or mixing. It's all done on, say, a Saturday morning. The first person home simply pops that night's meal into the oven, and it tastes as though someone has been slaving away in the kitchen all day. It also saves time and hassle when it comes to clean-up. You start and end with clean counters, oven, and stove top! Wow! And it definitely saves money, because you're buying in bulk and you're also freed from the "What Now?" problem when there's nothing for dinner, and you end up buying expensive take-out meals.
What recipes do you think are best for large families on a budget?
Casseroles, soups, pasta dishes and omelets. Having a breakfast of pancakes or waffles for dinner is also a fun treat and a real money-saver.
Do you have any tips on creating a balanced meal within the different food groups?
My book is loaded with ideas like this. Every day the dinner meal already includes foods from all the food groups, so you don't even have to think!
My mom was from the South and taught us always to serve two vegetables, at least, for evening supper. Starches did not count. Also, protein doesn't have to be meat. You can occasionally serve an omelet or beans in its place. And train your kids to eat less meat, and more of the veggies and grains. Make meat almost a garnish, and make the fruits and veggies the main meal. You can also serve fruit for dessert, though I love a good, gooey dessert!
What is your favorite recipe to cook and why?
Any dessert! I also enjoy making orange rolls because they're fast and easy, and my kids go wild over them.
When preparing to do all your cooking at once, can you share a tip or two so it doesn't seem so overwhelming?
- Let the kitchen get messy!
- Don't put things away as you go, but leave them out because you'll need them for subsequent recipes.
- Create an assembly line, using all family members to chop, sauté, mix and help.
- Start off with a sink full of sudsy water, so you can soak the pans as you use them.
- Use paper plates as cutting boards, and then just toss them (much less cleanup).
- If several recipes call for chopped celery, for example, then chop all of it at once, and divvy it up as needed.
- For chopped onion, use frozen chopped onion. It really simplifies life!
- If you line casseroles with foil, then after the food is frozen you can remove the dish, and just save the foil-wrapped dish in its frozen shape. Later, when it's time to bake it, you can re-insert the food into its dish. This frees up dishes for other uses during the week.
What tips do you have for reusing leftovers?
I am the queen of leftovers! I will put them together until everything is gone. I fold them into casseroles, quiches, salads, soups, stews, you name it. I'll even top a pizza with them, or scramble them into eggs. I was raised by depression-era parents who taught me never to waste anything.
Can you share a tip or two about grocery shopping? What should you look for when picking out food?
Never shop without a list, and organize your list this way:
Fold a sheet of paper 3 times, to create 8 little "boxes." Group foods that go together: one box for produce, one for frozen items, and so on, so you don't backtrack in the market.
- Always look for fruit that's heavy for its size, this indicates lots of juice inside.
- Get your butcher to cut off the tail and head of fish before he weighs it so you'll pay less. Why pay for something you're going to throw away?
- Shop on Tuesday mornings, the stores are less crowded.
- Try to stay on the perimeter of the store; this is where the fresh food is. The middle contains the processed, already-prepared (and thus more expensive) items.
Do name brands make a difference?
Rarely. You might have a favorite tissue or plastic wrap. But for canned fruit and vegetables, flours and sugars, you can save money without sacrificing quality, by choosing the store brand. It's usually cheaper than the coupon items, too.
What is the best way to save money at the grocery store?
Always compare prices. Look for the decimal number on the shelf tag, which indicates how much you're paying per ounce.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
To save time and money, place healthy snacks in small zip-loc bags in the freezer. Then when you're dashing out to a soccer game, or even in a hurry for breakfast, you can just grab a sack and go. Include pretzels, jerky, cheese, dried fruit, nuts, granola, for example.
